Friday, September 10, 2004

Nanotech's not-so-hot models
Drug-discovery company Accelrys and a host of startups are staking claims in the emerging nanotech modeling sector. Are customers ready for the products? (Red Herring)

Billions in government, venture capital, and corporate R&D dollars
are pouring into nanotechnology projects worldwide, and, for the
foreseeable future, nano-related companies will be spending much of
that money on research. San Diego, California-based Accelrys – one of the top
businesses in modeling software for drug discovery – and several
smaller software modeling companies are pitching their products to
businesses working on materials at the nanoscale.

Industry analysts say this software increases return on investment
(ROI) for those nanotech companies who can afford it, but most
businesses aren’t ready to spend big money on modeling – yet.

Nanotech innovators are searching for tools to aid in rational
materials design, and molecular modeling software will be one, allowing
researchers to visualize graphically and understand mathematically the
interactions of atoms within structures, down to the molecular level.
Traditionally, this software has been the domain of university and
laboratory scientists, but Accelrys and others are working to make
functional programs that can be used by engineers with little
specialized training. More
here